


Co-Adoption of a Puppy and Whiteboards

by VisualEcho94



Series: High School Teachers AU [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Atom the cute and adorable puppy, F/F, kind of, or in between pre and established, per-clexa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 09:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3763207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisualEcho94/pseuds/VisualEcho94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'we leave each other notes on the blackboards au' Prompt<br/>High School Teachers au</p><p>It becomes a game. A childish one that Lexa shouldn't be encouraging, but a game she plays none the less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Co-Adoption of a Puppy and Whiteboards

**Author's Note:**

> So, I finally got one of my Clexa fics done. There's a picture of Atom at the bottom.
> 
> All mistakes are mine, so let me know if you find any.

Lexa sighs, massaging her temples to try and alleviate the headache that had been pestering her all morning. Her lack of sleep, while sometimes unavoidable, had never ached this much.

“That’s the second time you’ve sighed in twenty minutes, what’s wrong?” Clarke asked, pushing away her half-eaten lunch so that she could give the brunette her full attention.

Lexa shook her head wincing when the action only worsened her headache. “It’s my head. Hurts.”

Clarke shot her a sympatric smile before standing from her seat and making her way over to the drawer under the microwave in the teacher’s lounge. She digs through it as quickly and quietly as she can, making a happy humming sound when she finds what she is looking for.

Lexa smiles despite herself at the noise.

“I love my job. Really, I do,” Clarke says, turning and grinning at Lexa as she makes her way back to their table.

“But even I have my limits to how many penis drawings I can see before getting frustrated.”

She holds out an Advil pill.

Lexa rolls her eyes just thinking about how many vulgar drawings the art teacher must get. She takes the pill though, dry swallowing it and giving a shrug when Clarke raises a disapproving eyebrow.

“Thank you, Clarke.” She says, hoping that the pill takes affect before their lunch break is over.

“No problem.” The blonde leans her hip against the table, crossing her arms as she regards the other woman.

“So what’s causing it? Another kid not enunciating ‘unconditionally’ properly?”

Lexa glares at her and Clarke smiles all the more for it. She always enjoys teasing her friend.

“It’s all that Katy Pratty’s fault,” She growls.

(Clarke shifts slightly when her stomach flutters at the sound.)

“Perry.”

“Whatever. But that isn’t the case here,” Lexa says, waving her hand around before leaning her elbow on the table to rest her face in her palm. She stares at Clarke until they make eye contact.

“My roommate’s puppy smuggled his way into my room last night and cried when I kicked him out until I let him in my bed. He then continued to cry even after I let him steal my pillow before he threw up all over my comforter.”

Clarke’s eyes widened and she stands up straight.

“Oh my god! Is that why you were so grumpy when we left this morning? You wouldn’t even say goodbye to him.”

“You told me he was going to be fine, Clarke.”

“I didn’t think he’d get out of his bed, the vet said he gave him medicine that would keep him out all night.”

“Obviously not,” Lexa muttered, sipping at her coffee. Clarke gave the other woman an apologetic smile, wincing when all she got in return was a blank face.

“I warned you about getting a dog,” said Lexa.

“I know. And I’m sorry, he was just sick. You know he’s a good boy, Lex.”

“Clarke, he threw up on my comforter.”

“He’s a baby and he wasn’t feeling well. You can’t get mad at your kid just because he had an accident.”

Lexa’s eyes widen at the blonde’s words and she straightens in her seat.

“He’s not my child. You’re the one who went out and got a puppy.”

“Lexa, he’s kind of your child, you co-adopted. Besides, you said it was okay.”

“You just had me sign a post-it note promising to help watch him. A post-it note you tricked me into signing.”

“Lex-a,” Clarke whined poking her roommate in the cheek until the brunette swatted at her hand.

“If Atom heard you right now, you’d break his little puppy heart. You know how much he loves you.”

“If he loved me so much he wouldn’t have puked all over my bed. It’s going to smell like dog chow in there all week.”

“You can sleep in my room and I promise to wash your comforter myself,” Clarke says, giving Lexa her own puppy dog eyes and pouty lips. Lexa can feel her face warm a little, but she doesn’t let it get to her.

(Her stomach flips at the thought of sharing a room with the other girl as it always does.)

“Besides,” Clarke continues, smiling at Lexa with her wide blue eyes. “You know you’ll melt when you see those big blue eyes running toward you when we pick him up later.”

Lexa shakes her head – it doesn’t hurt this time and she’s grateful – looking down at her lunch.

“I hope he’s at least giving Raven a hard time,” she says before going back to eating her pasta.

Clarke claps her hands softly before she hugs Lexa around the neck. It’s a little uncomfortable with Lexa still sitting and Clarke standing to the side of her, but it gives her butterflies all the same.

“Okay, I have something I need to do before next period. I’ll see you later, Lex,” And the Art teacher is gone before her roommate can say much of anything.

Lexa sighs again.

The blonde was going to be the death of her.

\--

The first bell rang six minutes ago and Lexa has just finished printing out the handouts for her AP class. She walks at a brisk pace but doesn’t panic knowing she’ll make it on time.

She walks in through the back door, already placing a number of sheets on each row she passes to be handed down by her students when she looks up to the giggling at the front of the class.

Lexa stops.

On her usually pristine white board is a red and black drawing of her – Clarke’s – Siberia shepherded puppy. One long, floppy ear is down while the other is up straight and he has a tilt to his head; there are lines along his tail to indicate wagging and his long tongue hangs out of his slightly open mouth. It’s very well drawn considering it’s done with dry-erase marker.

Tied around his neck is a sign that reads “I threw up on my mom’s bed and then still went and woke her up with kisses. I hope she forgives me.”

The students are all switching between staring at it and glancing at her, all of them smiling and whispering about the adorable picture and their more reserved teacher.

Lexa feels the twitch in the corner of her own lips, but only continues to pass the handouts out and begins speaking to her class.

“So today we’re getting into groups to discuss imagery in our novels.”

Atom’s smiling face is still there each time she looked up.

\--

Lexa didn’t say anything about the drawing on her board when Clarke climbed into her car at the end of the day.

When they picked Atom up from Raven’s on their way home and he bounded out the door to try and climb up the brunette’s knees, Lexa bent down to lift him up and allowed the wet kisses he gave her with only a small grimace.

“Hello Atom,” She sighed, though not the pained and uncomfortable kind that she had been doing all day.

Clarke smiled, reaching out to scratch at the pup's ears as he squirmed in Lexa’s arms to give Clarke a kiss of her own.

“Hey buddy. Why don’t you ever stumble your way into my arms when we come get you? I’m the one who picked you, you know,” she teased, shooting a mock glare at her roommate. The brunette raised an eyebrow and shrugged, adjusting her hold on the dog.

“He’s just sensible I suppose.”

Clarke rolls her eyes before turning to face her glaring friend standing at the door.

Clarke frowned.

Something bad happened.

“Your stupid pooch chewed through all the cables in my living room.”

“Raven! He could have electrocuted himself.” Lexa narrowed her eyes, tightening her hold on Atom.

“Oh don’t worry, Commander Heart-Eyes, he got to the main power strip first and yanked that thing out of the wall. Almost like he knew it would give him free range to destroy all the other wires without being barbecued,” she said, crossing her arms and still glaring at the black and tan pup who was happily panting in the arms of his favorite person.

Lexa wiggled eyebrows at Atom, scratching his head. “You’re such a smart boy.”

Clarke coughed to hide the snort she made when Raven turned her glare back to her.

“Sorry Rae, I promise we’ll pay to replace them.” She ignored the brunette standing behind her who muttered, “I won’t.”

Clarke would get her to pay.

“Yeah, alright. Just get that mutt some chew toys if you want me to keep watching him. I’m not giving up my media center for his furry butt.” She looked at Atom, who was staring at her with his wide eyes, wagging his tail joyously. “Even if he is the cutest dark-eyed puppy I know. That even includes you, Commander.”

Lexa glared at her.

(She still didn’t get her reference.)

“Okay, well, we must be off. Chew toys to buy, comforters to wash, assignments to grade, you know? Life of the underappreciated high school teacher,” Clarke whined dramatically, taking Atom from Lexa’s arms and making him wave his paw at the mechanic.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Raven. Hide all your expensive toys so this doesn’t happen again,” She said in a different pitch voice, walking back toward the car as Atom tilted his head to try and look at her, confused.

Lexa smiled, shaking her head at Clarke’s antics, before turning to look at the brunette still standing at the door. Raven crossed her arms with a smirk on her face as she raised an eyebrow at the other woman in front of her.

“What?” Lexa asked defensively.

“Nothing, Commander. Your family is waiting,” she said stepping back into her home and closing her door. Lexa scowled at the faded red paint before turning to walk back to her car.

She smiled again when she saw Atom licking every inch of the blonde’s face that he could. Clarke had her eyes shut and was trying to push him back, but she laughed at his enthusiasm anyways.

“Okay, you do love me. I get it you fur ball,” she chuckled, settling him in her lap and stroking his fur so he’d calm down.

“I don’t think that’s the way one should speak to their child,” Lexa mused as she got in, clicking on her seatbelt. Atom stared longingly at her, his tail smacking Clarke in the face.

“It is when they obviously don’t have respect for their saviors and instead loves the grumpy pants who almost didn’t let me get them,” The Art teacher grumbled. She perked up rather quickly, moving the offending tail to the side. “You want to stop by and pick up some new toys? We can get the squeaky ones for when he’s with Raven and Bellamay.”

Lexa internally smirked at the image of both brunettes’ frustrated faces.

“I don’t know,” she says, even as she turned toward the direction of the pet store. “Do we reward misbehavior?” 

“Umm, no offence, but I thought if anything you’d be proud that he ruined Raven’s stuff,” said Clarke with a furrowed brow. Atom whined for her to continue scratching at his ears.

“Oh I am,” Lexa said, reaching over to quickly scratch under the pup’s chin. He wagged his tail harder and nipped at her fingers.

“I’m referring to his destruction of _my_ stuff.”

The blonde nodded.

“Like you could stay mad at this face,” she cooed, pushing her nose into the wet one presented to her when Atom twisted at her warm tone.

Lexa rolled her eyes, but smiled in any case.

It seemed to be a true statement after all.

\--

The next day found Lexa waking to a thumping on her face, the warm pillow she had been holding wiggling away. When she opened her eyes she was met with a side view of Atom’s belly, his body twisted so that his upper half is closer towards the blonde who is ignoring the smack of his tail against her head.

Lexa blinks, turning to reach for her phone.

 _4:23am_ It reads and not even Clarke’s silly face posing with Atom on her screen can excuse the fact that she still has two hours of sleep left. She hums aggressively, turning around and borrowing away from her bedmates.

Clarke’s foot nudges her and she covers her head with the blanket.

“Lex,” is mumbled from the other side of the bed. Lexa ignores it.

“Lexa, you need to take Atom outside,” Clarke says sleepily, the puppy rolling upright at his name.

“It is not my job to potty train him,” Lexa grinds out, not coming out of the safety of the blanket.

“If he pees on this bed we’re gonna get stuck on that uncomfortable couch that you got just for Anya.”

“Clarke, I’m not doing it,” The brunette says, leaning up to glare at the woman who just shifts so her back is to Lexa. “He’s leash is by the door.”

“Clarke, I’m not taking him.”

\--

“Are you done?” Lexa asks when Atom comes to sit by her. She has her arms crossed and her hood drawn over her unkempt hair. She thinks of ways she can get back at her roommate for this.

“What do you think? Should we dye her hair blue?” Atom tilts his head.

“You’re right; she’d probably just make it work for her.”

\--

Lexa kicks off her shoes and crawls into the bed, pulling the blanket from the blonde who had wrapped herself into a cocoon. Clarke whined, stretching out her hand behind her to take it back.

“Lexxxxaaaa,” she pleads and Lexa hides a smile in her pillow. Atom jumps up and curls himself into the curve of her stomach.

She rubs his ears.

It’s only a second, but then she feels another body curve itself into her back, and Lexa tenses momentarily before relaxing back into the bed.

\--

She gets a text later in the day, Clarke at the corner of the photo she sent raising a brow at the whiteboard behind her.

 _I’m driving away without you if you ever make me get up at 4 am to walk your dog_ is written in green marker. 

The next text is in all caps.

YOU SIGNED THE COADOPTION POST-IT!

Lexa chuckles and then coughs when her class looks up from their test to stare at her with wide eyes.

“Get back to work. You have fifteen minutes left.”

\--

It becomes a game.

A childish one that Lexa shouldn’t be encouraging, but a game she plays none the less.

Sometimes, it’s Clarke telling Lexa’s class about something silly the brunette did that week.

(Lexa always fights a blush and tries to salvage the intimidating persona she’s known for. It’s not as effective as before.)

Sometimes, it’s Lexa scolding Clarke for something Atom or the blonde herself did.

(Clarke laughs it off and goes on tangents in class while her students do their work about what it is that really happened. They all love it.)

Sometimes, it’s Clarke drawing doodles all over her whiteboard.

(Lexa has those saved on her phone. She’s sure half her students do, too.)

Sometimes, it’s Lexa leaving riddles and quotes and poems on the board in the art room, challenging the person who sees them almost.

(Clarke usually arrives at the car with a list of answers that her students come up with.)

\--

The students always smile when they see one of their teachers walking into the other’s class, rolling their eyes when the blonde assures them that they are just friends.

“You drive here together,” they say.

“Well, we live together,” Clarke replies. Really it would be such a waste to drive two cars to the same place.

Bad for the environment.

“You guys live together,” they say.

“We’re high school teachers. In this economy it’s almost the same as being broke college students or starving artist,” She explains. Though she knows the both of them could easily afford their own places.

“You’re each other’s wallpaper on your phones,” one kid says.

Clarke frowns. (And blushes.)

“How do you even know that? You know what, it doesn’t matter. I play with her phone and always change that picture and, I mean, she’s in costume in mine. Who wouldn’t want a picture of that big nerd on their phone?” Clarke explains, waving said picture in her hand of the English teacher dressed as Hermione Granger.

(It was a costume party and Lexa lost a bet.)

“You co-own a puppy. Who gets him when one of you move out?” They ask.

“Well, that is filled under the ‘we live together’ category. As for who would get him, we’d probably spilt weekends or something. Though Atom would definitely choose Miss Woods if given the option,” She laughs, ignoring the tightening in her chest at the thought of not seeing the two every day.

\--

“You’re not gonna move out anytime soon, are you?”

“What? Why would I do that? I just got my room back.”

“No reason, just curious.”

A pause.

“Do you want to move out?”

“No. l like it here.”

“As do I.”

“Okay.”

“…Okay”

\--

Sometimes, when they know the other is having a bad day, they leave notes that they know will only make sense to each other.

 _A raccoon was spotted last night walking a dog._ (They both went for the walk, huddled close against the chill of the early winter weather and it had started to sprinkle, making Lexa’s make-up run.)

_A princess fell from the sky._ (The time Clarke climbed into the tree to try and get a Frisbee down despite Lexa’s warnings. Raven and Octavia laughed for ten minutes when she landed on Bellamay.)

_Commander, reapers have taken over the base._ (The time they babysat Lexa’s nieces and nephew, who had gotten into Clarke’s stash of sweets and had used Clarke’s paint to cover their faces. They had even got it all over Atom’s fur, who then proceeded to get it all over the house.)

Lexa liked those notes the best.

They felt special.

Intimate.

Made just for them.

\--

“Lexa!”

The brunette smirks, massaging Atom’s head with both hands as he grins up at her with his doggy grin.

“Yes, Clarke?” She calls out.

It’s silent for a second, and then she hears the loud thumping of padded feet coming into the living room.

“You put orange hair dye in my shampoo bottle!” The blonde looked pissed, but Lexa saw the tell-tale signs of a smile in her eyes.

And she gulped.

Because Clarke really did make the different colors work for her.

Maybe she hadn’t thought this through.

“Is that what that was? I could have sworn it was more shampoo we bought at Costco.”

“You’re dead, Woods.”

Atom barked happily in front of Clarke, blocking her long enough for Lexa to make her escape out of the living room.

She felt like a proud mama.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked.  
> Here's a cute photo set of what Atom would look like.  
> http://visualecho94.tumblr.com/post/116628168687/these-are-the-cuties-who-ruined-my-life


End file.
